Carpc or Carputer Complete Guide

DISCLAIMER: I am no tech guru but when i started my carpc project it took me awhile to understand all the intricacies of carpc setups. I just wished that there was a newbie guide to carpc specifying recommended equipment as well as reasons for recommendations. Now after 3 months of hard work i have 99% completed my install in my mazda rx8, so i am writing this guide for newbie's who start from scratch like me.
There are some elements in this guide which cater specifically to rx8 installation but by and large the guide should prove helpful for any car owner.

What is CARPC:
A CAR Pc is simply put a pc installed in your car.

What can i do with it
Whatever you can do with a standard home pc but some important highlights are:

Getting Started:What Equipment do I need:
CARPC is different from your standard home PC in many aspect because four things are a must for car pc.
1. The carpc should shutdown/start automatically based on your ignition status.
2. The carpc should consume extremely extremely low power.
3. The carpc should be extremely small .
4. Boot Times should be extremely less.

So what do I need and How much is it going to cost:
Carpc's can cost as low as 300 dollars and as high as 2500$ depending upon what you need. Below I will discuss all the components that you might want alongwith their expected prices.

1. Motherboard and CPU:
For a carpc you can choose any motherboard and cpu you like (just as in case of desktop) but the preferable way is to select a low wattage cpu + motherboard combo. Furthermore, you should be better suited with a small size motherboard so mni-atx, micro-atx or pico-atx shall be the way to go.
There are several option for motherboard + cpu options available which you can found here:http://www.newegg.com/Store/SubCateg...-CPU-VGA-Combo
However Intels Intel BOXD945GCLF2 Mobo+Cpu is the recommended choice. It has a dual core 1.6ghz processor and can play upto 720p content or easily handle most of carpc taks.http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16813121359

Power Supply:
This is one of the most crucial components of a carpc because ideally a computer should shutdown/start with ignition. For this you have two options
1. Use a standard pc psu, 12v dc To 110v/220v ac converter and shutdown/start controller
2. Use a automotive power supply with builtin Shutdown/Startup Controller
The second option is preferable because these automotoive power supplies only convert 12v dc current available in car to 5v dc that is required by the computer components and hence there are minimal power losses.
The first option is only preferrable if you really want to incorporate a monstrous quad core cpu in your car.

Ram:
This seems like a straight forward choice for desktop pc's; The More the Better.. Well not for cars. Well in a car pc when you will turn off your ignition, your pc will go into hibernation and dump all the memory on the ram onto the hard disk. Similarly on starting car, the computer shall come out of hibernation and transfer all the memory from hard drive to ram.
Result being that more the memory, more time it would take the computer to come out of hibernation. So choose carefully. 512 mb seems to be the ram of choice for car pc enthusiast.

Hard Drive:
The hard drive of desktop is not recommended for carpc's due to all the movment and jostling.
Notebook harddrives are the recommended option. However some people go for high end flash based hard drives to eliminate chances of hard drive failure.

OBD Interface:
OBD Interface is essential a piece of equipment which connects to your car's ecu to the computer and relays information back and forth.
Well if you want to view engine information on your carpc screen such as oil temperature, mpg statistics, 0-60 mile time or quarter mile time. You need an OBD Interface. Furthermore you can use this to read engine error codes and troubleshoot enginer troubles.
Please check when you buy an OBD interface if it is compatible with your car. Two options in this regards are available namely

1. Expensive Ones: Based on original ELM 327 chipset and are priced upwards of 100$.
2. Cheap Ones: Based on Chinese replica ELM 327 chipset. These can be found at MO-Co-So.com or ebay for about 40$.Edit: I have been testing the chinese ELM 327 and it works like a charm for me.

I can't comment on which one is better however i have ordered the chinese one and shall report about this once i install it.
LCD Screen:
It is recommended to have a touchscreen LCD. Touchscreen allows you to control your pc directly from your lcd monitor and adds additional wow factor.
Two companies are considered to be market Leaders in this category. Xenarc and Lilliput. And their LCD Dispalys cost about 180-300 dollars. Ebay is your best place price wise to shop for these LCD Touchscreens.
However in direct sunlight these screens are not very readable so some people go for really expensive Transflect Touchscreens which cost around $500. One Option in this category are

Camera:
Generic webcams do not work because they have problem working in bright light environment. They are made for indoor use and hence are usually crap outdoors. I blew my money on a generic webcam because during bright light all the camera showed was bright white light. Logitech Quickams are a good option but they are generally very expensive. However there is a cheaper alternative also present. Playstations Eyetoy is what people recommend and it can be had for around 10$ . http://www.amazon.com/EYE-TOY-Silver...1910491&sr=8-3http://video-games.search.ebay.com/E...QQsacatZ139969

The detailed instruction on how to use these cameras as webcams can be found here:
[media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CDE1oYn7D4g[/media]
[media]http://www.metacafe.com/watch/937881/how_to_turn_your_eyetoy_into_a_webcam/[/media]

Mic:
Labtec Noise Cancellation Mic are recommended and can be had for less than 10$. The Mic is used to Navigate your PC Via Voice command or for use of your phone handsfree. For use with phone, you shall be able to dial your phones directly from your touchscreen.

Bluetooth Dongle:
Buy any generic one.

GPS Reciver:Satglobal Bu-353 is rated highly. You can find it for less than $40 dollar.

Softwares Needed:1. Windows Xp (How to Remove Unnecessary Bulk):
Your Options are:
1. You can use Nlite software to remove much of the un-needed Bulk from windows xp. This is necessary because by removing bloatware and un-necessary services you can reduce boot times of computers significantly.
You can read more about it here. A guide of how to do it is here
2. Or you can get a copy of tinyxp from torrents or here. It is an already n-lited version of xp. You just download it, burn it on a cd and you are good to go. Yes it is illegal but saves a lot of hassle.
3. There is another option available and that is xplite. This is different from nlite because it removes the "unncessary bulk" after the installation is completed.
4. Yet another option is installing the complete windows and using this guide to stop the unnecessary services.

Edit::
The first two options did not work for me. After i had numerous failed or unstable installation, I went with the third option (although fourth option is essentially the same as the third one). The computer is very fast and very stable now and i strongly recommend either going with the third or the fourth option.

2. Centrafuse or Road Runner.
This is where all the fun is. Centrafuse and Road Runner are the two most popular front-ends used in carpc.
You might be thinking why do i need a front-end if i have windows media center but these softwares are optimized for use in carpc using lcd touchscreen. You can checkout the demo of centrafuse at their website.
Centrafuse costs around 120$ whereas Road Runner is free. They both have their pros and cons and all i can say is that you should checkout both before you decide.

3. Bluesoleil
This software is needed to integrate your phone to your carpc via bluetooth. Centrafuse software has bluesoleil integrated so you don't need to install it seprately.

4. Voice Navigation:
Centrafuse has builtin support for voice navigation however you can you use PowerVoice to integrate voice navigation in your car.

Where Can I put my CARPC in rx8:
You basically have four good options:
Glove Box :
The cpu+mobo will have to be mounted without case. This is the easiest mode of installation in rx8 but in summer your glove box can become very hot leading to probable cpu failure.Under the seat (With Case):
Also very easy to install but has the same problem as aboveThe Rear Seat Center Pass through (Without Case)
Stealth Install but very very difficult and time consumingTrunk:
Only recommended if you have a full-blown pc which won't fit into pass-thru or glovebox. Trunk is relatively cooler than "Under the Seat" or "Glove Box".I chose the rear seat Center Pass Through option. I mounted the Hard-drive, Mobo and PSU on the center Pass through and mounted the DVD-Rom just under the Center Pass Through where the stock navigation dvd-rom is located. But in order to mount your pc there you need to open the whole center panel (to hide wires) and it is (very,very) big hassle. In order to view pictorial details please see the attached pdf.

Where Can I put my webcam:
You don't have many options in this regards. The best place for a rear-view camera in my opinion is the center trunk light. Just remove the Center Brake light and replace it with a rear view camera. Sure, you won't have the center brake light but you will have a cool rear view camera. Please see the attached picture to know what i mean.

How to connect PSU with Car Power:
On M2-ATx there are three connectors. One is for "Contant On", Second one is "Ignition" and Third is Ground.
"Constant On" means that current should be flowing through this wire regardless of the ignition status. "Ignition" means that current should only flow through this wire once the ignition is brought to "on" situation. Ground:
Just find a good bare metallic surface and connect your grounding wire to it.Ignition On:
You can connect it to postive of the cigarette lighter.Constant On:
This has to be taken directly from Battery and there is no alternative. The car's ecu cuts the power supply to the main power relay during cranking(ignition) and your pc would restart if you take the constant on wire from any place within the car e.g. fuse box. Furthermore, it is essential to place a "fuse" in the constant "hot wire" and use a good quality power wire. I learned this the hard way after my wire got heated and almost burned down my car.

Where Can I put my LCD:
You have two good options in this regards:Metra Kit:
This is a kit which replaces your center console panel (i.e. where your cd player is located) and provides you with a place to put your lcd display. You can read about it herehttp://www.rx8club.com/showthread.php?t=157780Stock Navigation Screen Replacement:
If you have a stock Navigation Screen then this option should be definately used. If you don't you can still get a stock Nav holder from ebay and place your lcd in it. Many people on this forum have gone down this route just search the threads but an example is:http://www.rx8club.com/showthread.php?t=153088

My car came with stock nav option so I simply replaced my stock navigation lcd display with lilliput one and i was good to go. Please see the attached pdf titled stock navigation lcd replacement for details

Frequently Asked Questions:HARDWARE
Q: I am experiency noise from my speakers? What should i do?
Ans: Buy a ground loop Isolator to begin with. If that doesn't solve the problem search about Ground Loop Isolators, do your research and then troubleshoot. Some people say that USB sound card sometimes also solve this problem so check that out as well.

Q: MY GPS takes a lot of time to lock satellites? What should i do?
Ans: Change the position of your gps. The idea is that your gps mouse should have a 360 degree view of the sky, so try to place it in center of your Front or Rear Windshield. Eliminate any usb extension wire that you might be using. Even if this doesn't solve the problem, try to pull out as much as GPS Reciver USB wire as possible and keep it adjacent to your gps reciever (for me this solved the problem and my lock time reduced from 3 minutes to 2 seconds).

Q: How to disable welcome screen after hibernation"
Ans. Click Start > Control Pane> Performance and Maintenance
Select the Power Options control panel.
When the Power Options Properties multi-tabbed dialog box appears, click the Advance tab.
Uncheck Prompt for password when computer resumes from standby.
Click OK to close the dialog box.

Q: I cannot see some settings in centrafuse?
Ans Go to Centrafuse->Settings->and press the "+" icon for six settings. The advance settings menu shall appear. For some reason beyond me centrfuse creators have creators require you to do this to activate advance settings. It is dumb if you ask me.

Q: How to import my contact into centrafuse?
Ans: Centrafuse can only read contacts in "Vcard" Format. Use this nifty little utility called parrot vcard convertor to save your contacts into vcard format. Now go to centrafuse-->setup-->phone-->import contacts and import the vcard into centrafuse.
Q: How to play avi, .mov, mpeg2, .mkv and other video formats?
Ans. Install Klcodec. Open this file with text editor: C:\Documents and Settings\<Your User>\Local Settings\Application Data\Centrafuse\System\config.xml
On the 4th line you can read:
<VIDEOEXT>avi|qt|mov|mpg|mpeg|m1v|wmv</VIDEOEXT>
Change it to
<VIDEOEXT>avi|qt|mov|mpg|mpeg|m1v|wmv|mkv|mp4|divx |rm|ram</VIDEOEXT>